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Statute of Limitations for Medical Bills



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amother
Wheat


 

Post Thu, Jul 21 2016, 9:49 am
Hi,
If I wracked up $200,000 in medical bills while being very sick,with insurance (this was my 15% that was out of pocket) , an amount that I will never be able to pay in a million years on mine and DH'c combined $40,000 a year salary , and the hospital was not being reasonable about a payment plan , despite my poor financial situation, does it ever just disappear or will they keep trying to collect forever?
This happened 6 years ago.
Also, can they seize your assets? We currently don't own but if we would get a mortgage and buy are they able to force you to give it up?
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amother
Honeydew


 

Post Thu, Jul 21 2016, 9:53 am
Are the bills in your name only? Then your DH could probably buy a house and put it under his name (I have a family member who did that after also 100s of thousands in medical bills after her insurance decided they weren't paying because care was no longer necessary and her Dr refused to send her home. )
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Amarante




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 21 2016, 10:03 am
The statute of limitations differs in each state but you are probably pretty safe at this point. I know that in California it is seven years but the reality is that they stop trying to collect after a certain amount of time. Typically they will have sold your debt to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar.

You should check you ur credit report to see what is being reported on it. This can be done for free once a year at each of the credit reporting companies. This is good because you can see which of your debts has been dropped from the report. This has to occur within the statute of limitation for your state.

The reporting affects your credit rating but once it drops off, it is as if you never had the debt so your score should reflect that you have been current with all other payments for that period of time.

If you pay anything on your bill, it resets the statute of limitation so be careful not to pay anything since you are so close to the end of the period or are past it depending on your state. You can easily find this out by googling medical bills and statute of limitations and your state.

They cannot do anything to lien or seize uniess they have a judgment. It is unlikely that they have done this as you would have been served and there would have been a trial.

I can't say for certain but it is more than likely that your debts have been written off by this time.

If you want a mortgage or other loan, check your credit report to see what is on there. Again, it's free so don't be duped by companies that claim they will do it for a fee. Your credit score costs money to obtain but that is different.
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Amarante




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 21 2016, 10:21 am
I wanted to add that it is more than likely it has been written off since the creditors were paid 85% by insurance if I am understanding correctly.

Also the bill was probably owed to many different entities. For example, each doctor who saw you would bill separately so the debt for each creditor might be small and wouldn't justify a lawsuit.
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